Final Proposal Background and Bibliography
April 13, 2011
Project Background
The focus and purpose of my research will be to explore the field of Development, particularly the aspect of evaluation. There were many sources I needed to read from in order to understand the various facets of development, and how they will relate to my location. The specific topic of evaluation in development found its course when Joan Dixon introduced the Community Capitals Framework to me. Learning about this framework has been a challenge as little has been published on the topic, either by Cornelia Butler Flora or by others in her field. I’m interested in studying development within the context of Geography, and the trying to blend these two fields is what my research will offer that is unique to the field of development and development effort evaluation.
Definitions
This research project is centered on evaluating development efforts. In Dale Reidar’s book, “Evaluating Development Programs and Projects, he effectively explains three terms: development, development projects and evaluate. Development is a term that has many different uses and meanings—and each meaning incorporates the idea of growth or change (Reidar 22); “The Human Factor in Rural Development” by Tom Gabriel defines development as “types of economic and social change, and… human choices and values regarding these changes” (Reidar 7). The ideology of my study agrees with Reidar’s assertion that development of human societies is viewed positively and takes into consideration all aspects of that society, not just economies (Reidar 22).
Reidar further defines Development projects as any project that is focused on promoting improvements in some aspect of some people’s quality of life and evaluation as “assessing the value of” something; evaluating development projects involves assessing relations between the program or project and numerous aspects of its surroundings” (Reidar 25).
Challenges in Development include lack of including local people in participation and planning, lack of communication between field workers, researchers, and policy makers, difficulty in identifying and meeting real needs, and commonly occurring negative and unforeseen consequences of development projects (Black 1999). In his books “Revolutions in Development Inquiry” and “Ideas for Development”, Robert Chambers describes strategies to more effectively involve local people in development and evaluation. Participatory development activities use visuals and tangibles created by local people themselves—the most widely adopted being mapping, diagramming, ranking and scoring—that often demonstrate people’s unsuspected ability to describe, present, diagram and analyze their realities (Chambers 2005 105). These methods, commonly called Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods are something I’ll incorporate when I seek information and understanding in interviews. The PRA Methods Handbook I’ll use is “Toward Partnership in Development: A Handbook for PRA Practitioners.” This handbook contains activities for use in interviewing such as mapping disease in a community or making a pie chart drawing for things like financial aid sources or resource expenditures. These interview techniques foster a different way of exploring these seven capitals and will play an important part in my interviews.
Location Significance
Field Study Location. Like everywhere in the world, but perhaps on a greater scale, the African countries and people face the challenge of development, which necessitates overcoming the effects of colonial abuse, civil unrest and corruption, a growing population, and years of development projects that result in unsustainable results and costly, unforeseen consequences. My interest in the field of development drew me to choose an African country as the location of my field study research. Although there were other areas in Africa I could have gone, I chose a rural area because of the greater challenge rural areas often experience in terms of sustainable development—a result of a lack of resources (or capitals) that sustain efforts. From what I’ve learned in my Twi and Preparation class, Ghana is a great place to conduct a study on development because of the relative success that Ghana has experienced as a developing country—it was one of the first countries to achieve Independence from colonial rule, since emancipation there has been negligible civil and political unrest, and the economic activity in Ghana is relatively stable.
Health Clinics. The focus in my study on health clinics Is significant because the work that is done by Health centers around the world aids any progress that is made on the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) made by the UN in 1994 and 2005. Because of the challenges that development efforts face around the world, progress with these goals has been a challenge and—some would say—a failure. The work that each clinic does is important, but to improve the work they do, one must become familiar with each unique, location specific set of challenges that each faces. The resources and challenges health centers face are because of its location and surrounding influences. A study that explains how a community affects its health center—especially if the community and health center can coexist and sustain a development effort for so many years—will promote greater understanding of how to improve the performance of a development project and improve how the international community is able to accomplish these goals.
Salvation Army Health Clinic. I chose the Salvation Army Health Center as the basic development effort in my research because it’s a clinic that has been in the community for a number of years and as a development effort has exhibited a strong ability to sustain its efforts to provide health care for the people of Wiamoase. Sustainability is a major topic in this field, and is something that Community Capitals Framework attempts to explore by identifying the major capitals that contribute to sustainability and then identifying ways that the capitals can work together to improve sustainability. So finding a sustained development project like the health clinic is an important factor in where I chose to study within Wiamoase.
Topic Specific Research
The Community Capitals Framework, developed by Cornelia and Jan Flora of Iowa State University, as she was trying to understand different aspects that are key to sustaining and growing as a community. The framework is a way to understand what resources a community or organization has and if that entity is sustainable and self-reliant. Capital is defined as define capital as, “any type of resource capable of producing additional resources (Flora, Flora and Fey 165) and later on “when resources or assets are invested to create new resources, they become capital (Flora, Flora and Fey 169).” The seven capitals that make up the Community Capitals Framework are described as (Flora 2006):
• Natural capital: air, soils, water quality and quantity, landscape, and biodiversity.
• Cultural capital: language, rituals, traditions, crops and dress.
• Human capital: Self-esteem, education, skills, and health.
• Social capital: Leadership, bridging networks, bonding networks, trust, and reciprocity.
• Political capital: Inclusion, voice, power.
• Built capital: Water, health, transportation, sewage and energy systems.
• Financial capital: Income, wealth, security, credit, and investment.
There are many ways that these capitals relate to research I’ve found about rural development or health research. For example, Jeffrey Ashe’s Assessing Rural Needs: A Manuel for Practitioners offers survey-style questions involving built capital issues—like transportation access and level of access to water or power resources. Also, an article by Kruk and Freedman “Assessing Health System Performance in Developing Countries: A Review of the Literature” argues that major challenges in rural areas deal with human capital—efficiency, effectiveness and equity of the staff. Health equity deals with the spread and availability of health care to a population. An article by Michael Marmat states that “where inequalities in health are avoidable, yet are not avoided, they are inequitable” (Marmat 1154). Political systems in rural areas can often be such that one individual or group of people has more power or rights than others; exploring inequities in the political system of a rural community can often help identify inequities in health care. Other challenges could deal with the financial situation of the clinic and how that reflects on prices for services. Often prices for health care are difficult to price. Patrick Olsen in his field study in South Africa noted that the cost of service for a patient is influenced by the bills or pressing financial needs of the health center or doctors.
Significance
The Community Capitals Framework is a little known theory even within the field of Development and an application of this theory may afford some insights unique to but useful to the field. This theory links my academic pursuit of Geography and desire to understand the “why of where” with my desire to understand and contribute to solutions for the challenges in the field of development. Hopefully using this theory to understand the efforts of the health clinic to provide access to health care will link the two fields will link the two fields and provide a unique way to understand sustainable efforts and challenges with development projects.
Works Cited or Consulted
Ashe, Jeffrey. Assessing Rural Needs a Manual for Practitioners. Cambridge Mass.: ACCION/AITEC, 1978. Print.
Black, Jan Knippers. Development In Theory And Practice: Paradigms And Paradoxes. 2nd Ed. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999.
Chambers, Robert. Ideas for Development. London ;Sterling VA: Earthscan, 2005.
Chambers, Robert. Revolutions in Development Inquiry. London; Sterling VA: Earthscan, 2008.
Dale, Reidar. Evaluating Development Programmes and Projects. 2nd Ed. New Dehli; California; London: Sage Publications. 2004.
Emery, Mary, Susan Fey, and Cornelia Flora. Using Community Capitals to Develop Assets for Positive Community Change. Community Development Practice: Issue No. 13. 2006.
Flora, Cornelia, Jan Flora and Susan Fey. 2004. Rural Communities: Legacy and Change. 2nd ed. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Flora, Cornelia Butler, Mary Emery, Susan Fey and Corry Bregendahl. Community Capitals: A Tool for Evaluating Strategic Interventions and Projects. North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, Iowa State University. www.ncrcrd.iastate.edu
Jordan, Jeffrey L. Rural Health Care and International Development in Africa with Additional Reference to Asia and Latin America. Monticello Ill.: Council of Planning Librarians, 1977.
Kruk, Margaret Elizabeth, and Lynn P. Freedman. "Assessing Health System Performance in Developing Countries: A Review of the Literature." Health Policy 85.3 (2008): 263-76. Print.
Marmat, Sir Michael: Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Achieving Health Equity: From Root Causes to Fair Outcomes. The Lancet: Vol. 37: Issue 9593; pages 1153-1163.
Olson, Patrick Randall. “Building A Citadel in Medicine.” Medical Internship: Ghana, West Africa. IFSI Office, Spring 1998.
Works To Be Consulted
Baran, Paul A. 1978. "On the Political Economy of Backwardness." Pp. 96-106. In Kaplan, Barbara Hockey (ed.) Social Change in the Capitalist World Economy. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Frank, Andre Gunder. 1978. "The Development of Underdevelopment." Pp. 109-120. In Kaplan, Barbara Hockey (ed.) Social Change in the Capitalist World Economy. Beverly Hills: Sage.
McMichael, Philip. 2008. Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective. (4th
edition)Thousand Oaks, Calif: Pine Forge Press.
Nolan, Riall W. (2002), Development Anthropology: Encounters in the Real World. Boulder: Westview Press.
Scott, James C. 1976. The Moral Economy of the peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia. New Haven, CN: Yale University Press.
So, Alvin Y. 1990. Social Change and Development: Modernization,
Dependency, and World-System Theories. Newbury Park, Calif: Sage Publishers. Brace Jovanovich College Publishers.
Stiglitz, Joseph E. 2003. Globalization and Its Discontents. W. W. Norton and Company.
Rowlands, Jo and Deborah Eade, 2004. Development Methods and Approaches: Critical Reflections. Bloomfield: CN. Kumarian Press.
Unknown. Toward Partnership in Development: A Handbook for PRA Practitioners. Based on PRA Training Workshop: Bulwer, Natal (19-26 April 1993). Compiled by Participants. http://dimensionsofdevelopment.pbworks.com/f/PRA_MANUAL.pdf
Book Review
April 13, 2011
“Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe
With my facilitator’s approval, I selected “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe as a book to read over the course of the semester. This assignment was to help me prepare for my upcoming field study experience by helping me understand better the culture of my field study location. The themes I found important in the book I read were three-fold: generational attitudes, cultural customs and values, and the contrast between religion and personal values.
As I read this book, I noted what seemed to be a divide between generations. For example, Onkonkwo (the main character) was majorly influenced by what his father stood for and lacked in his life; he was always in debt and was too lazy to grow yams to pay it back or wrestle and earn honor in the community. Because of this, Onkonkwo determines that his life purpose is to be everything his father is not. He has regional prowess as a wrestler and works hard every year to have success in growing yams. His life purpose is to build an admirable and powerful reputation. He is feared by his wives and children and has a huge temper when things are out of place in life, his pride is a part of both his success and his downfall. Also a difference in generations is between his son and himself. When the Christians come to the community, his son is converted and he views this as a weakness and his son as weak and disloyal, having left him forever. A major part of the reason "things fall apart" in Onkonkwo's life seems to be this difference and the changes between generations. At the end of the book, Onkonkwo often complains that things are not as they once were or the Christians would not be allowed to remain and disrespect his community's values. Many other characters note the same thing. I feel like this theme is one that could be prevalent in the community I'm going to and will be interested to notice the relation and changes in attitude between generations.
Another theme I noted while reading the book was the explanation of customs within the tribal community. I thought it was interesting the role that wrestling played to unite the regional warriors, it was something known between all people in the community what prowess each man had and had an influence on status in the community. Another strong cultural attribute is one of generosity between people during wedding preparations, funeral occasions, and yearly festivals. It was seen as inappropriate to keep things simple and was an aspect of pride for Onkonkwo and his family when they could invite their relatives during festival time and feed them a great feast, no matter the cost. These two traditions are different than ones I note in my own culture, but they are easier for me to understand when I consider reasons they would have these traditions. An understanding of cultural and religious aspects of a community was important. When comparing the work of the two priests in the community, one had a negative impact on the community because he disregarded and disrespected the values of the community, the other was tolerated and to a degree accepted because of his respect and interest in understanding cultural nuances. Cultural and religious values is also how the community resolved arguments (as with the spirits of the dead coming and judging a situation between a woman's family and her husband) and dictates behavior in difficult social situations (when Onkonkwo accidentally killed that young man at the funeral and had to leave for several years). Understanding the culture of a community clearly will be an important aspect of my experience doing research in Wiamoase.
Finally I noticed the attitude that these people had about life, the central role that religion played in everyday choices and major life decisions but also the contrasting calculation of Onkonkwo trying to get the most he can out of life by playing the “game” of the culture. More important to him than religious things--although they played a part in his decisions--was being viewed as successful and superior by his peers. It was a driving influence in his life on three occasions to make him ignore religious wisdom for personal profit or strength. When the wise man came and warned him that they would take the life of the boy living with Onkonkwo he warned that Onkonkwo shouldn't have part in his death, but Onkonkwo ignored that advice because he feared the judgment of the community. Onkonkwo pretended to be unconcerned when his sick daughter was taken by a possessed woman to be healed or killed, but he kept going back and forth to the woman's final destination in the night because of concern; he just couldn't demonstrate his concern because of his religious beliefs and his personal desire to avoid appearing concerned or fearful. At the end of the book, Onkonkwo wants to fight the outsiders despite decision of community to try and live in peace with the outsiders. He dislikes that the community is so weak and dislikes that these outsiders have such control and meet no resistance, so against his religion but to satisfy his personal desires to be strong, he ends his life in suicide. I think that when I go to Ghana, I will have the opportunity to meet people that have contrasting cultural, moral, and personal values and this book has helped me realize that people are complex and things are sometimes not as they appear.
Mid-Semester Source Documents and Sources
January 26, 2011 - Third Annotated Source Document
Ashe, Jeffrey. Assessing Rural Needs a Manual for Practitioners. Cambridge Mass.: ACCION/AITEC, 1978. Print.
The outline and introduction of this book clarifies how to find and develop a research project, questionnaires, and linking research to action—all specifically within the field of international development. The advice and methods this book offers will help me understand the processes important to connecting research and action for my project and perhaps for the SA clinic in Wiamoase.
Gerein, Nancy, Andrew Green, and Stephen Pearson. "The Implications of Shortages of Health Professionals for Maternal Health in Sub-Saharan Africa." Reproductive health matters 14.27 (2006): 40-50. Print.
This article reviews the availability of skilled clinic staff and explores the challenges particularly in rural areas of developing countries. It links its subject with what needs to be done to reach the Millennium Development Goals for maternal health. Because of the site and situation of the SA clinic in a small rural community, I thought the findings of this article would be applicable to my study and to the development of my methods.
Kruk, Margaret Elizabeth, and Lynn P. Freedman. "Assessing Health System Performance in Developing Countries: A Review of the Literature." Health Policy 85.3 (2008): 263-76. Print.
This article links the goals of the MDGs and the needs of the Health systems in developing countries. It reviews literature that proposes a framework for the assessment of health systems performance and reviews the literature on indicators used to measure performance in online medical and public health databases. I was so excited when I ran across this article because it might help provide a framework for my methods and analysis of the SA clinic efforts.
Obaid, Thoraya Ahmed. "Fifteen Years After the International Conference on Population and Development: What have we Achieved and how do we Move Forward?" International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics 106.2 (2009): 102-5. Print.
This article is discusses the MDG’s and their base in a 1994 Population and Development Conference. It discusses what the goals have been since that time, what they’ve developed into, where we are in achieving them and what the challenges will be in the coming years. It’s a good statement from the United Nations Population Fund and gives an idea of the goals I’ll be using to focus my study on Developmental Health Efforts and in measuring progress or challenges. It’s a good overview of concepts I’ll need for my research and methods.
January 24, 2011 - Second Annotated Source Document
Chambers, Robert. Ideas for Development. London ;Sterling VA: Earthscan, 2005.
In this work, Robert Chambers explores important applications to development, different approaches that different people have taken in the attempt to find a solution to the many challenges of effective development. I appreciated the projects I’ve already skimmed and think this book will be useful for my understanding of what policies and practices could be effectively used in the field, and perhaps what practices would be best avoided.
Chambers, Robert. Revolutions in Development Inquiry. London ;Sterling VA: Earthscan, 2008.
In this work, Robert Chambers talks specifically about the important evolution of Participation in Development. An entire chapter of the book talks about the challenges of field work and field studies in development efforts. I found this chapter potentially fascinating and helpful to what I will be doing with my research.
Jordan, Jeffrey L. Rural Health Care and International Development in Africa with Additional Reference to Asia and Latin America. Monticello Ill.: Council of Planning Librarians, 1977.
This work discusses the specifics of rural Health Care policies and international development in African communities. It seems like this source will be useful in helping me understand the standard policies and practices of health clinics across Africa.
McAreavey, Ruth. Rural Development Theory and Practice. New York: Routledge, 2009.
This book deals with the gap between Development theory (that Robert Chambers discusses in his books) and Practice. It seems that this source would help me prepare for the challenges in applying theory when I’m in the Wiamoase Clinic and record how those challenges have been dealt with.
January 21, 2011 – First Annotated Source Document
Von Schirnding, Yasmin and C. Mulholland. “Health in the Context of Sustainable Development: an Introductory Document.” World Health Organization, Geneva. http://www.bvsde.paho.org/bvsacd/ssataller/heasustdev.pdf
This document was written as an evaluation of Health within the development context. It discusses the challenges faced by nations and populations, the ways that those problems might be prevented, and what clinics and health systems can do to better meet those needs. It will be a fundamental part of developing and supplementing my research ideas and project proposal because it provides me with information regarding clinic challenges in general and how they are met.
Black, Jan Knippers. Development In Theory And Practice: Paradigms And Paradoxes. Second Edition. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999.
This book covers the basics in development theory and practice. It has provided a useful background for me as I develop my research ideas and project proposal. In particular, the chapters on the mentalities associated with different development theories have been helping me to understand my own faulty or shallow assumptions with regards to development and has served to help me correct some of those. It is informative to my study, helped educate me in development processes and problems and helped my mentality toward development mature.
Reed, Mark S., Evan D.G. Fraser and Andrew J. Dougill. “An Adaptive Learning Process for Developing and Applying Sustainability Indicators with Local Communities.” Ecological Economics [0921-8009] 59, no. 4 (2006): 406-418.
This journal article discusses both environmental and competing objectives views of sustainable development, theory and methods for developing sustainability indicators. There are ten basic indicators used to evaluate the sustainability of a development indicator but this article will acquaint me with ways to overcome the challenges of top-down approaches to development measures and aid in adjusting my indicators effectively for the community of Wiamoase when adjustments need to be made.
Unknown. “2005 World Summit Outcome: Resolution adopted by the General Assembly.” United Nations, October 24, 2005. http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N05/487/60/PDF/N0548760.pdf?OpenElement."
The UN’s World Summit 2005 Millennium Goals are meant to focus global attention on the resolution of several important development issues. This source is their official declaration of those goals and the details of what each entails. Three of these goals relate directly to the efforts of the Salvation Army Clinic I’ll be studying in Wiamoase and this provides a good framework for the important health issues and policies my research will involve.
Source Document Analysis
January 19, 2011
Sherman, Andrew J. Jun 8, 1998
“Asi es la Vida” A Holistic Perspective of Grassroots Development
International Relations: Final Paper
Field Study Database
1. What is the source’s stated purpose (the argument or thesis)?
• Study focuses on how people of different social-economic levels perceive and pursue development and what elements influence the intensity and focus of their development.
• Only by going to the people and determining their goals can others truly assist the poorest of the poor in their development.
2. What evidence does the author provide to support his or her main argument? How is the author attempting to logically prove his or her thesis and how does this affect the organization of the document?
• Defines development not as development of a city but of people – dev is therefore defined by people
3. Who is the audience? What does the author assume the audience already knows about the topic?
• Academic Audience
4. Describe the author’s methods (i.e. how does the author know what he or she knows)? In your opinion were they appropriate why or why not?
• Relied on participant-observation by becoming involved in community – gain trust and confidence and get views in a variety of social levels
• 40 formal, unstructured interviews (planned, tried to allow the informant to take the interview in the direction that he felt necessary)
• I think his emphasis on having interviews in different socio-economic levels was appropriate, however a completely unstructured interview presents the difficulty of how do you measure and compare responses?
5. To what other sources (theorist, researchers, artists) does the author refer? Explain the specific ideas the author draws upon from these other sources to support his or her own argument (the theoretical framework).
• Lots of sources for the History of the Mayan Civilization.
• Defined development from the dictionary
6. What are the connections between this source and your project? How useful or applicable is this source’s approach to your own project? How is yours new and different?
• This research has a strong link to my interest in studying development in Wiamoase. I want to study the policies that have been implemented and the communities view of their effectiveness, so the structure of these interviews and number of interviews I do would be similar to this study’s.
Source Document Analysis Worksheet
Stevens, Sarah Winter 1994
The Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Medical Trust
Anthropology: Senior Project Paper Field Study Database
1. What is the source’s stated purpose (the argument or thesis)?
• Issues with Healthcare policies to viability and quality can be best solved on the community.
2. What evidence does the author provide to support his or her main argument? How is the author attempting to logically prove his or her thesis and how does this affect the organization of the document?
Descriptive study of:
o The attributes of Sankara Nataraj Hospital in Coimbatore, India as:
Faith based (trustable, motivates personnel)
Community supported and based
o Their success in reaching the community
3. Who is the audience? What does the author assume the audience already knows about the topic?
• Academic Audience
4. Describe the author’s methods (i.e. how does the author know what he or she knows)? In your opinion were they appropriate why or why not?
• Mostly through observation and participation in the hospital
• Interviews with hospital volunteers, doctors, and administrators
• Because this seems like a descriptive study, cataloging observations seems appropriate HOWEVER less appropriate and viable was her conclusion where she applied the attributes of this clinic to how other health care clinics should be run. She described the culture of this region as a large influence on the success of this clinic, and superimposing that system on a different culture doesn’t seem like a viable argument.
5. To what other sources (theorist, researchers, artists) does the author refer? Explain the specific ideas the author draws upon from these other sources to support his or her own argument (the theoretical framework).
• She only referenced a religious text that was the religious framework for the hospital.
• She didn’t name other sources that described other studies similar to hers or even sources that backed up her conclusions.
6. What are the connections between this source and your project? How useful or applicable is this source’s approach to your own project? How is yours new and different?
• I was struck by the description and history given about the hospital she studied, especially the formation of the hospital and how that’s influenced the policies today
• This relates to my desire to study the policies and framework of the Salvation Army clinic in Wiamoase. I got a good idea of how important the background of the Salvation Army and their policies regarding development will be in my study.
• It also contributes to my ideas of how a Field Study experience will be in terms of unexpected situations, both good opportunities and a lack thereof, and the overwhelming feelings of being in a new place until I’m adjusted and better understood
• My study is new and different because it focuses on the effectiveness of a clinic’s policies in terms of development.
